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I've been thinking about making a wheat-beer with bananas and a little bit of chocolate malt. My question is can you mash bananas in the mash-tun to convert the sugars/starches and get more banana flavor into the brew?

I got the idea from my wife while I was looking at a dark wheat recipe. She was making chocolate covered frozen bananas for our girls and the wheat recipe had a little chocolate malt in it. I thought 'why not accentuate the banana flavor and aroma in the beer instead of trying to keep it down?'

Does anyone know if it is possible?

Cheers.

flag	asked Mar 12 at 21:30 Hugh Nelson 71●3

	End up trying anything out with the bananas? – Room3 Mar 30 at 12:45
	Yeah man, what did you do? How much did you use? When did you put it in (secondary?, mash?, flameout?)? How did it turn out? I'm excited to try this myself, any input would be greatly appreciated. – dzachareas Aug 3 at 21:30
	I have read that amylase can be found in the inside peel of bananas so adding bananas to the mash could definitely be an interesting thing to try, though I don't have any experience with it myself. – Mattress Sep 1 at 15:06

dzachareas · Answer 1 · 2010-08-06 15:42:33Z UTC

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Hey guys, I'm serious about this. Looking for suggestions on how many pounds of bananas to use. I don't want an over whelming banana flavor, just something nice to go with cocoa powder I'm going to add. I'm looking to use 3 oz. of cocoa powder and 3 lbs. of bananas. How does this sound? Anyone used bananas before? Didn't want to start a new question for this, but maybe I should have, let me know.

answered Aug 6 at 15:42

dzachareas
314●5

	I'd actually suggest making a great chocolate based beer. Then adding banana extract at the time of bottling/kegging. I am sure you can find banana extract in the baking isle of any decent grocery store. You'll have much more control over the final product that way. – brewchez Aug 8 at 1:00
	Great idea, I appreciate your input. I think I'm going to do this instead. From the research I've been doing, it looks much easier to do it your way. I don't know why I didn't think of it. Thanks brewchez. – dzachareas Aug 9 at 2:18

brewchez · Answer 2 · 2010-08-05 12:10:22Z UTC

I don't know why mashing them would add MORE banana flavor than using them in secondary. You'll get more sugar by converting what little starches remain in the fruit (depending on ripeness). But conversion of starch to sugar isn't related to how much banana flavor compounds are present in the fruit. Just "mash" them with a fork and put them in secondary.

dzachareas · Answer 3 · 2010-08-03 21:27:43Z UTC

Anytime I add fruit, I put it in the secondary after primary fermentation so the yeast is gentler on the fruit leaving more of the fruit flavor behind. I'll usually give the beer a week in the secondary before I add the fruit. Banana is a fantastic idea though, you guys have me excited. I'm going to try this out.

JackSmith · Answer 4 · 2010-03-12 22:01:52Z UTC

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It can be done, as Seth pointed out when referencing Wells' offering. I don't know if you'd want to mash them, though, or if you'd just add them to the secondary. Bananas have a very strong flavor, especially ones that are flecked with brown. If you're going to try it, maybe you could also infuse some nut flavor and make a proper Bluth Banana Stand Ale.

answered Mar 12 at 22:01

JackSmith
1,333●1●7

	Thanks. Never heard of the Bluth before. I'll look it up. – Hugh Nelson Mar 13 at 3:18
	imdb.com/title/tt0367279 – JackSmith Mar 15 at 12:58
	Funniest show ever made, that is until It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia came out. – dzachareas Aug 3 at 21:12

Room3 · Answer 5 · 2010-03-12 21:54:56Z UTC

I'm not sure about when you would want to include them in the process, but Wells makes a Banana Bread Beer, so it can definitely be done.

I also came across this article about a Hefeweizen mixed with banana nectar, like a banana version of the Austrian Radler, so you might be able to try incorporating it at the end of your brew somehow.

Can you mash bananas?

5 Answers